Fear of the Unknown
by Goddess of the Deep
Summary: My very own version of Cell...Chapter 6, after a very LONG break is OFFICIALLY up and running.
1. Chapter 1: A day like no other

It was a typical day for Mara nothing but a typical day so she thought….

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Leon County General Hospital

10:30 pm

"Mara Weinstein pick up extension 526, Mara Weinstein extension 526." A voice over the loudspeaker called.

"Great, who could it be now?" Mara exclaimed drawing the last vial of blood for the rather annoying patient.

"It HURTS!" The patient whined.

"We're all done for right now Mrs. Smith, we just have to wait for the lab to get the results back." Mara replied snapping off her gloves.

"How long is that going to take? I've been here for almost three hours!" Mrs. Smith protested.

"I know and that's actually pretty short wait considering we have a five hour wait. Most people would kill to have that short of a wait." Mara said walking out of the room.

Mrs. Smith grumbled something incoherently and was quiet.

Grabbing the nearest phone Mara dialed extension 526 waiting to hear what bad news awaited her.

"Hello, this is Mara"

"Mara this is Heather from Lael's daycare. Lael seems to be running a high fever and she needs to be picked up ASAP. Seems to be that flu that is going around and it's very contagious." The voice on the other line stated.

"Any flu is very contagious I've seen about five cases of it in the ER alone. But I'll be over there as soon as I can." Mara replied.

"Also her cousin Becca has the same exact flu and we can't get in touch with your sister. You are the next one on the contact list; would you be able to pick her up also?" Heather asked.

"Sure I'll come get them both. Thanks, Ms. Heather. I'll be there as soon as possible." Mara said and hung up the phone.

_Just what I need not only one sick kid but TWO._ Mara thought

"Oh Sara…!" She called out walking over to the head nurse's station.

"Oh what….?" A voiced called back.

"Guess what?" Mara asked.

"Let me guess you have a kid sick with the flu and you need to go home. Is that correct?" Sara said smiling.

"Wrong again, see you don't know everything." Mara replied, "I've got two sick kids. Becca AND Lael are down and out for the count."

"Aw well you go on and get them and I'll cover you. How long have you been here anyways?" Sara asked.

"1:30 right now, about 10 hours." Mara replied.

"Go get your kid and niece, go home, get some sleep, and I'll see you in the morning." Sara said waving Mara off.

"Ok, thanks Sara see you in the morning."

She knew Sara even before she started working at this hospital. She actually knew her husband Tom before she even met Sara. Tom had been Mara's lawyer when she divorced her husband Robert. They had become friends quickly and he introduced her to Sara. They had been friends ever since.

Mara pulled out her cell phone and tried to reach her sister. It rang until it went to voicemail.

"Hey Naomi this is Mara I'm picking up Becca and Lael so just come on over to the house when you get off and I'll see later. I'll leave the door unlocked." Mara said and hung up her phone.

Just then the battery beeped and died. "Oh great forgot to charge it." Mara said to herself, "Oh well, sucks to be me!"

Luckily the daycare was about two miles away and her house not but three mile from that. She picked up the girls, went to McDonald's to get everyone Happy Meals, and went home.

"Auntie, where's my mommy?" Becca asked as they pulled into the driveway.

"She'll be here soon, Becca don't you worry." Mara replied turning off the ignition.

Mara and Naomi were very close as well as their children. It wasn't always like that, it started when Naomi had her child first then almost two years later Mara had her daughter. The girls were very close, and loved each other dearly. It was never just a 'hi' from Becca when Mara saw her, it was always, 'Hi Auntie where Lael?' It was hard not to be close to her sister, their kids were always around each other. There was only one person that Mara was closer to, it was her mom.

Opening her front door Mara was greeted by her 120 lb Rottweiler Arthur. By no means was this dog vicious. He loved kids and was very loyal to Mara and his 'puppy' Lael. He viewed all children as his puppies.

"Hey big boy, how are you doing today? Mara asked Arthur. All she got was a faster wag of his stump of a tail.

"Doggy!" Lael exclaimed clapping her hands.

"Yes, doggy Lael, it's Arthur." Mara replied setting the 16 month old down.

After the girls ate, Mara laid them down for a nap and ended up laying down herself.

2:50 pm

"Mara, wake up." Naomi said shaking Mara.

"What? What's going on?" Mara said drowsily.

"I left my phone at home today and went by the daycare. They said you took her so I came on over. How are the girls?" Naomi asked.

"Sick but doing well, they're sleeping at the moment." Mara replied getting up.

"How long were you at work?"

"Ten hours I think, it was a relief to get a call saying that they were sick."

"I just checked on them they're still crashed. Did you give them Tylenol?"

"Yes, of course. I'm going to get a cigarette. Would you like to join me dear sister?" Mara grabbed her pack and walked outside on the front porch.

"Why of course my dear, as always!" Naomi followed Mara outside.

"The street is unusually busy today." Mara observed, "It's not usually like this."

"School just got out it's almost 3:00"

"Oh did I really sleep for that long?"

"Yea, you were out. Probably all those shifts in the ER you've been pulling. I don't mean to pry but you might want to consider another area of the hospital."

"I know but I like the ER. It's what I always wanted to do."

"You'll kill yourself if you don't do something soon."

"I know." Mara stared out into the street, "it's sad, look at how many kids have cell phones now a day. It wasn't even thought of when we were kids."

There were about 20 kids in the neighborhood all seemed to be on cell phones. A few parents mingled in with the kids also talking on cell phones. Naomi's watch beeped at the hour, it was 3:00.


	2. Chapter 2: It starts

Naomi opened her mouth to say something and Mara shushed her quickly.

"What is it?" Naomi asked.

"Look." Mara replied pointing to the street.

Where the happy kids were once roaming about there was now chaos. Blood and gore were everywhere. One woman had a kid about 13 by the throat and was gnawing-yes-gnawing on it. A car came down the street and the group of once humans was fast upon it. The driver swerved to get out of the way but it was no use, the once humans overtook it in seconds. The driver was pulled from the car and chewed to bits.

"Oh my-"Naomi started to say.

"Naomi get in the house right now!!" Mara said interrupting her and pushed her sister towards the door.

Mara followed closely behind Naomi shutting the door behind them and locking it. Arthur sat whining by the door.

"Be quiet Naomi we need to figure this thing out." Mara said heading to her room.

Promptly she came back with a load Glock .45 in her hand.

"Where did you get that?" Naomi exclaimed.

"I got it from a store. Where else would I get it?"

"You know what I mean."

"I got it when I bought the house. I know I have Arthur but nothing is better than good old home defense."

"Well it's going to come in handy now by the looks of it."

"I checked on the girls, they are still sleeping. We have to figure out what to do next." Mara peered out the window.

A lady running down the street was soon advanced by one of the 'Things' and brought down immediately.

"I'm going to call 911." Naomi said.

"Use the house phone it's on the charger." Mara replied not taking her eyes off the chaos outside.

Naomi dialed 911 and all she got was 'All operators are busy please try again later.'

"Nothing, I couldn't get ANYTHING! What is going on?" Naomi wailed.

"Naomi be quiet! We are safe as long as those things don't know where we are." Mara said.

Off to the left there was a person not spotted by the creatures picking up their phone and obviously dialing 911. They stopped and a blank look went over their face, they had become one of them.

"Naomi, it's the cell phones. Something is coming through the cell phones, but not the landlines. You weren't affected by the landline when you called the police." Mara said.

"Why do you say that?" Naomi asked.

"Because I just saw someone use their cell phone and they became one of them."

"We have to call mom and dad."

"Use the landline."

Naomi dialed their mom and dad's number. To their relief they got an answer.

"Hello?"

"Mom, do you see what's going on? Naomi asked.

"Yes, I do. I'm alone now I don't know what to do!" It was obvious that she was crying.

"Where's dad at?"

"He ran outside when this whole thing happened I haven't seen him since."

"Stay there mom. We'll come to get you, don't know when but we will. The babies are fine, sick but fine."

"Be careful they are everywhere."

"Lock your doors and stay out of site. Oh by the way don't use your cell phone. Mara seems to think they are the cause of all this."

"OK, you guys be careful."

"We will mom; we'll be there as soon as we can."

Naomi hung up the phone.

"Dad's missing." She stated.

"Probably did something stupid and got himself killed." Mara replied.

"Probably, mom's fine. Just a little freaked out but who can blame her?"

"Join the club. I've never been this scared in my life." Mara said still looking out the window.

You could hear the sound of sirens and see the smoke billowing out from the city. Naomi turned the TV on and was turning the channels until she got to a news station. A flustered anchorman was on; you could barely hear the words over the chaos in the background.

"I repeat, stay indoors. This is no joking matter. We don't know where this comes from but we do know it's all over the country, not just here."

"This is just great," Naomi said, "I finally get the job that I like the most and this crap happens."

"I know. I bet the hospital is jammed. Glad I'm not there." Mara replied.

A sleepy eyed Becca came in rubbing her eyes. Naomi switched the TV off.

"Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?" Naomi masked the fear in her voice rather well.

"I don't feel well." Becca replied climbing into Naomi's lap.

A gunshot could be heard in the distance. Mara went to check on Lael. Lael was awake in her bed sucking on her two fingers as usual. Mara picked her up and hugged her.

"Love oo mommy!" Lael said in her garbled one year old fashion.

"Love you too baby." Mara replied with tears in her eyes. She brought her in the family room with everyone else.

"What's the game plan Mara? We have to get mom! She can't be left alone with all this going on." Naomi asked.

"We have to wait until this whole thing calms down. Then we get mom. Maybe even tonight, I have no idea what these things are, do, or are going to do." Mara replied hugging her daughter. "Lael's fever is gone. What about Becca's?"

"Fever's gone, looks like she's just weak." Naomi replied.

"We have enough supplies for at least a month. A person always has to be prepared for hurricanes. I just wish this was a hurricane instead of a national disaster."

There was a knock at the door and everyone froze.

"Mara open up! It's Tom! I'm not one of them!" A voice on the other side of the door said.

Mara opened the door and a flustered Tom came through the door. Mara quickly closed it behind him.

"I was on the way to the hospital when all this happened." Tom said out of breath, "I couldn't even make it to the hospital the roads were jammed so much. I had to outrun one of the crazies."

"Well did you lead it here?" Mara asked.

"No, I got out of sight and it looks like if they don't see you, they'll forget about you." Tom replied getting a bottle of water out of the fridge.

"I have no idea what is going on. It's like the world has gone nuts from cell phones. It was bound to happen." Naomi added.

"What are you guys going to do?" Tom asked.

"We have to get our mom." Mara replied.

"Unc Tom!" Lael screeched once again in her baby talk running to him.

"Hey baby, how are you doing?" Tom asked scooping Lael up.

Lael laid her head on his should and was quiet.

"Well I have to get Sara and you have to get your mom. Why don't we use a joint effort? Three adults is better than one." Tom stated.

"If they're still alive," Mara said, "We just don't know."

"Think positive Mara, quit being a Negative Nancy." Tom replied.

"Oh ok. I just saw thirty people killed out there and I'm being negative."

"That's not going to help."

"You're right I'll just go out there and ask them to leave. Then I'll wait until they tear my head off."

"Ok, why don't you do that, in the meantime I want to figure out what to do about our problems."

"Wait until dark get in the car and drive over there."

"One problem Mara, the roads are jammed, we'll never be able to get through." Tom said rocking Lael.

"Ok, we walk, but what happens when they gang up on us?"

"Gee Mara what the hell is on your belt?"

"One Glock is going to stop an army of zombies."

"No but it'll help. The zombies as you call them are not the only thing we have to worry about around here; there are looters, criminals, and various other scum of the earth."

"We just have to wait it out for a while." Naomi stated quietly.

That's just what they did, they waited for nightfall….


	3. Chapter 3: No big loss

_**The views in this chapter are not the views of the author. This is a realistic view of **__**the world around us**___

Garden State Hospice Care Jersey City, New Jersey

2:56 pm

Abraham Hockenstein stared out the window at his old and faithful friend, the New York skyline. It seems to stare back at him with its usual cheerful hello .It was the only joy he seemed to get out of life these days.

Abraham was a wealthy jeweler in the 80's, on top of the world as you might say. That is, until the dreadful day he found out he had prostate cancer. The years went by and the pain only seemed to get worse. In the end he had to sell his house in order to pay for the hospice care he was receiving, which was a big blow to his already inflated ego.

His peace was broken by Ophellia White, his nurse, trying to get his door open. It was medication time.

"Damn these doors!" she exclaimed through the door, "This old building, one of these days I'm gonna need to git in here and I won't be able to."

The door finally opened grudgingly and a large statured black woman whom Abraham despised came crashing through the door. Like most men in his position, with his background would hate their connection with their care.

"Mr. Stein, it's time fo' yo' medicine and I don't want no trouble today." Ophellia said taking a syringe and a package of morphine. To save time she always brought everyone's medication so she didn't have to keep running back to the supply closet.

"I don't want the likes of you touching me, you unclean heathen!" he exclaimed not moving from his spot by the window. His speech lowered enough where she didn't hear him call her a 'damn shvatza'.

"Now Mr. Stein we don't wan no trouble now do we?" She replied stepping towards him.

"I don't want your filthy hands on me!" he snapped raising his cane, "Also my name is Abraham Hockenstein. Not Abe or Mr. Stein, it is Abraham Hockenstein!"

"Oh Lawd why do I git the hard ones?" She asked to nobody in particular. Just then her cell phone started to ring; the ringtone was 'Runaway Love' by Ludacris.

"Hello?" she said the door behind her began to slowly close but it never reached the door jam.

"I paid that damn light bill! Ya'll best not shut off my juice!" Ophellia walked into the hallway to talk leaving the morphine and the syringes on the table by the door the door again closing slowly behind her.

Abraham could see her talking in the hallway; someone had said the wrong thing to her. She was waving her arms dramatically and yelling about all the money she pays to these people, how dare they treat her like that, and if she was living in HUD housing they wouldn't be having this conversation.

"Heathen…" he muttered wheeling closer to the door and the morphine.

Ophellia stopped midsentence and her cell phone dropped on the floor shattering to what seemed to be a thousand pieces. She blinked, looked around, and charged after an orderly. The orderly threw up his arms to protect himself but to no avail; she managed to rip his throat apart. Turning she spotted Abraham and started towards him.

The orderly laid on the ground, blood poured from his neck as he whispered a small prayer aloud: "Lord, protect the rest." He expired in a gasp of blood.

Abraham wide-eyed pushed his cane against the door with all his strength and managed to shut it right before she got to it. He could hear her banging on the door trying to get in. If the building had not been so old- any other door would've had a glass window to allow Ophellia, or what was left of her, to reach through the door. Grabbing the morphine syringe he wheeled over to his favorite spot by the window. Hands shaking he managed to self medicate the entire dose which was three times what he was to be administered.

"Adonai please forgive me." He said with tears in his eyes as he shoved the needle in his protruding vein.

A few moments later Ophellia managed to get the door open. She bared her teeth at him snarling.

Abraham stared at his beloved city one last time. "So long my good friend, you have been faithful to me, I wish time would allow us more days."

As the syringe fell from his opening hand the city stared back at him with smoke trailing upwards and seemed to cry out at him "Help."

As her teeth touched his neck she could sense there was no life left in his old frail body. He died seconds before Ophellia could kill him, thus no feast for Ophellia.

No big loss.


	4. Chapter 4: The hospital

Nightfall took its time making its appearance, when it did the trio was ready to step into the dear of the unknown. Fear was with them but not controlling them.

Tom rattled off the list to Mara as she packed them in a double stroller.

"Mara, did you get the water, food, ammunition, diapers/wipes, flashlights, and batteries?" Tom asked.

"Yep, all packed and ready to go, gotta love those two for one sales. Now were did I pack the scum sucking scavenger? Oh wait never mind there you are!" Mara replied pointing to Tom and laughing. It felt good to laugh. All the stress that was built up that day was bound to give everyone a 'myocardial infarction' as she would say. Deep down inside Mara knew that laughing would become a rarity.

"I'm here, and what about the overbearing obnoxious medically trained female? Oops I guess you are here too!" Tom retorted his smile lighting up his bright blue eyes.

"You know it baby! I'm locked, loaded, and ready." Mara said and patted the gun on her hip.

"Ok, enough joking around you guys, if we are going to do this we have to do it now." Naomi said a little annoyed.

This is how it had always been between Tom and Mara even before the cell phone epidemic. They could've passed for brother and sister if someone didn't know any better.

Mara, Naomi, Becca, Lael, Tom, and of course Arthur started out on their adventure. Luckily Lael and Becca were fast asleep in the stroller; their day had come to an end as usual.

Two Hours Later

"Where'd they all go?" Naomi asked. "The streets were filled with hungry zombies flesh seeking zombies and now they are empty."

Naomi and Mara both looked at each other and exclaimed "Seekers!"

"I don't know, Naomi," Mara replied, "When it turned dark it seemed like every one of those 'things' started southwest. But seekers shall be their new names. Zombies are too cliché"

They came up to an intersection blocked off by a city bus turned over.

"Naomi, this reminds me of the time when you were pregnant with Becca. You remember, right? When you ran into the Tal Tran bus?" Mara said.

"I am never going to live that down?" Naomi mumbled looking down at Becca with adoration.

Arthur stopped to mark his 'territory', probably to cover up the dog (and the many others) that had marked it before him. Who knew? Dogs can be so weird. Arthur was a good dog. He always had to make sure the kids were safe first, then the adults. There is no other living entity as loyal as a good dog. Arthur knew his role in the five 'hunters'. He had his place, he was happy.

Tom stopped suddenly, staring at something to his left. There lay a man barely recognizable he had been torn up so bad. Half of his head was missing as well as a leg and an arm.

"One more arm and one more leg he could be Matt." Tom said under his breath not fully expecting Mara's exceptionally good hearing to pick that one up.

"That's just wrong, Tom." Mara said shaking her head, "But way to use humor to deflect your real feelings."

There was literally hundreds of 'Matts' lying around all over the streets. Not one of them went without some sort of mutilation done to them. It was a horrific and bloody sight to be taken in all at once and Naomi lost her dinner. Both Tom and Mara were pale and nauseated but managed to keep theirs down…Barely. The hospital (what was left of it) came into view at the next intersection.

The inside was just as bad as the outside. Bodies were everywhere just as they were outside. The generators had failed and the hunters used their flashlights to reveal a very gruesome sight.

"Naomi, stay there for a second with the girls." Naomi said pointing to the Triage area, "I want to check this out with Tom."

Naomi tossed Mara a nod, and Arthur planted himself beside Naomi and the stroller.

"Ok, but I am screaming and hauling my ass to where you are if I see anything." Naomi replied warily.

"Sounds good to me," Mara replied following Tom into the back of the ER.

Arthur stood guard next to Naomi and the girls; his big presence was enough to keep any person dead or alive away.

Inside the ER was no better than the front, blood and gore were everywhere. What was once white walls were now stained and smeared red with blood. There was no end to this in sight. It was like a sprinkler of blood was set off from every corpse on the floor. Tom left Mara's side for a moment to call for his wife.

"Sara!" Tom whispered heading over to the head nurse's station, "Are you in here?"

Nobody was in sight. There were a few dead bodies on the floor, mauled like everyone else they saw.

"She's not here." He stated reluctantly. Tears flowed freely from Tom's cheeks as he raised his shaking hands to his face.

"She probably went running like the rest of them. Maybe took an ambulance and got the hell out of there." Mara replied, "We don't see her here that's good!"

"Maybe, it sure is a bloodbath in here." He said shining his flashlight around the room.

Mara replied, "We need to remain upbeat and pos-"

There in seeker form was Mrs. Smith, the last patient Mara saw. Her eyes blank and glazed were fixed on Mara as if she remembered her. Mrs. Smith seemed to be drawn to Mara magnetically as if she had been seeking Mara out.

"Tom get behind me now." She commanded drawing her gun and flicking the safety off.

"What?" Tom turned and saw the once Mrs. Smith. His movement caught the seeker's attention.

At that moment Mrs. Smith lunged at Tom; he ducked barely missing her deadly teeth, slipped, and fell due to the blood on the floor. Mara took her only shot and fired the gun; if she failed Tom would be gone forever. The shot was a dead between the eyes; Mrs. Smith dropped like a sack of rotten potatoes thrown in the garbage.

"Where the hell did you learn to shoot like that?!" Tom exclaimed, his eyes as wide as saucers.

"High school," Mara replied holstering the gun, "like everyone else."

"She was a moving target! Right between the eyes! I never thought that you were so good at shooting."

"Why do you think I insisted on being the one that carried the gun?"

"I thought you were just being a bitch as always."

"Very funny Tom, no, I'm a deadly shot and I didn't know how good of a shot you are." Mara replied giving Tom once again the one finger salute.

"I'm going to look around a bit for Sara; you can join me if you like." Tom said.

"Alright, but we have to make this quick, we don't want to run into anymore seekers," Mara replied, "I didn't like shooting Mrs. Smith-it's the opposite of what I did for her earlier today. But if it's human versus seeker, the seeker will be dropped faster than you can blink."

"You knew her?"

"Yea, she was the last patient I saw. She was such a bitch, I'm almost happy to be the one that shot her." A grin swept across Mara's face and left just as quickly as it came.

"Oh and I'm the sick person here." Tom muttered.

Mara shrugged, "Ya gotta do what ya gotta do."

They searched most of the hospital to no avail. The plain and simple fact was: Sara was not there in human or seeker form. They returned to a very worried Naomi and a very worrisome but alert Arthur.

"Where were you guys? I heard a shot but I didn't want to bring the girls in there. What happened?" Naomi hammered out.

"Ran into an old patient of mine; she was a seeker so I had to shoot her." Mara replied checking on the girls.

"Those girls will sleep through anything, eh?" Tom commented.

Mara kissed Lael's cheek, "Yep, Lael must've gotten it from her aunt. I'm a light sleeper."

"So what now guys, what do we do?" Naomi asked.

"Since we know that mom is ok, we need to get her first then figure out what to do next. You know dad was prepared for the worst. A generator, MRE's, bottled water, radios, more guns and ammo, etc." Mara replied. "I even think he has an AK-47. What do you think, Tom?"

"It sounds like the most tactical point of view. If we can't make it by daylight I think we should find an abandoned home to sleep in. I know we're all exhausted, but we need to get as far as we can before daylight, it seems they only come out in the daytime. The roads look ok if we go slowly; but we'll need something like a hummer." Tom replied still wondering about Sara.

Mara started "Ya mean a Sherman Tank? Cause-"

"Shut up Mara." Naomi snapped, "We know the rest."

"Ok, ok I'll stop. But we also need to find baby seats, safety first no exception. I'm not sure I want to find one in a car, you never know what happened in it." Mara said.

"What are you talking about?" Tom asked.

"I don't want to see a dead child mutilated by the seekers the way these people were. I may be a hard ass when it comes to everything else but I can't stand to see children hurt." Mara snapped.

"Ok, well there is a Toys R Us nearby. We could find a suitable car most likely in the parking garage, get the car seats, and head out." Naomi said very matter of fact.

"Sounds good to me, what about you Mara?" Tom asked but silently thinking, _there's a daycare on the way; that would be a fail safe for supplies.__ But that is a last resort__ Mara is really touchy about kids__ and I don't want to put her through that if something did go horribly wrong_

"Fine with me, anything to keep from walking so much, my feet are killing me." Mara grabbed a cigarette and lit it.

Tom looked at Mara and said with a smile, "This is a non smoking campus."

"Go ahead call security just make sure and use a cell phone." Mara replied blowing smoke in his direction.

Tom's grin grew bigger and he relied, "That's not going to happen."

"Let's go children!" Naomi exclaimed pushing the stroller outside Arthur following with one eye on the stroller and the other on his three 'masters'.

Tom gave Mara a shove towards the door and received an elbow in the ribs and they walked outside together arm in arm.

The night air never smelled so sweet to all of them.


	5. Chapter 5: A break From the Unordinary

3:00 a.m.

Although there were no vehicles that were worth taking; the walk itself wasn't as bad as they thought it would be. The air was crisp and a gentle breeze glided through the trees. Nature itself knew not of the destruction that man prepared for it self.

The trio was somber and each was deeply entrenched in their own thoughts.

Mara lit a cigarette and thought _I wonder how we can stop this. Will we ever return to normal? Was this our judgment for being a depraved and sick nation? Did I leave my hair straightener on? Oh wait never mind I'll probably never see that house again or straight hair._

Tom interrupted Mara's thought by patting her on the back. He understood how she felt. He himself had worries of his own. His wife was missing and as good as dead… or worse. But at least he wasn't alone. If it weren't for Mara he would have been dead already; he owed her his life or maybe a good massage that she like so much. Her quick reaction had saved his life once and will probably many times in the future. He glanced over at her and studied her in the bright moon light. Mara was short only about 5 feet, she had dark brown hair with red highlights that hung down to her waist, and bright intelligent green eyes. She was confusing; sometimes a tomboy sometimes a perfect lady, there was no telling with that girl. He admired her courage; he knew she would put her life on the line for any of her family or friends. He truly did love her as a sister. He would do anything for her and her daughter. He always wished that Lael was his own flesh and blood she was such a wonderful person.

Naomi glanced at Tom and noticed him looking at Mara, she felt small pang of jealousy. Naomi had always secretly admired Tom for a while, but his attention was always turned to Mara. Naomi didn't fault them for it, she just got a little jealous and stand-off-ish every once in a while.

_I wonder how my friends are doing_. She thought, _Will I ever be able to use a cell phone again? _

Naomi was always glued to her cell phone. It was the new Envy by LG, and it did everything possible that a cell phone could do. Naomi couldn't stand to be away from it for long periods of time. Mara hated the thing because Naomi would ignore the rest of the world for it; she would make her put that 'piece of crap technology' away if they were out together. She didn't bother bringing it in Mara's house anymore due to the fact that Mara had threatened to give it to Lael to flush down the potty. Mara's pet peeve had saved Naomi's life. The girls stirred in the stroller.

"Listen, we need to find a place to rest before the sun comes up. I'm exhausted and I don't want to be out much longer." Naomi said tiredly.

"I agree," Mara replied, "This walking kills me. We'll have to find a house that doesn't have seekers in them. Hopefully one soon, I'm beat."

Tom veered off the sidewalk into a yard, "I'll check this one out; it looks like maybe some elderly people lived in here. They might not have a cell phone thus in turn might not be seekers."

"Tom wait-" Mara said but it was too late he was in the house already.

A few minutes went by and right before Mara was about to go in the house with her gun drawn Tom appeared and exclaimed, "All clear, if the house was owned by an elderly couple they were pretty up to date on technology."

Mara holstered the gun and replied, "Don't do anything stupid like that again."

"OK I won't do anything stupid again, except for this!" He said tossing Mara a cell phone.

Mara caught it, screeched like a girl, and threw it back all in a split second. Unfortunately her aim wasn't all that good when she was startled and the phone managed to clunk Tom squarely on the forehead.

"My God Mara, what are you trying to do kill me?" Tom yelped putting his hand up to his forehead, which now had a very large bump beginning to show through.

"You startled me! I can't help that! You tried to turn me into a seeker with that damn cell phone!" Mara replied rushing over to Tom, "You know I'm a klutz when I get startled."

"Yea, you were just looking for the chance to hit me in the head. It was a damn toy cell phone!"

"I'm sorry Tom! I didn't mean to!" Mara was very well near tears; although tough, Mara was a softie when it came to her friends and family.

"Uh guys, can we please continue this inside?" Naomi said rolling her eyes and placing her hands on her hips, "I'm tired, cranky, and I want to get some sleep."

Arthur woofed in agreement, he was also tired. Although he was a strong dog, his arthritis made it more difficult for him to make long expeditions. But as long as he was with his master and his 'puppy' he was happy.

"It's all clear," Tom said, "Come on inside."

They were all happy to get inside and sit down; their muscles stiff and sore it felt so good not to be walking anymore. The house turned out to have housed a family with small children at one time or another. Naomi and Mara bedded the girls down for their remaining sleep.

"Mara, I'll take first shift on the girls, so I'll go to sleep now. I know you're probably going to be standing watch." Naomi said.

"Yea sounds good to me. I'll have Tom take the second watch in the morning. I think we'll be safe in here as long as nobody knows we are in here." Mara replied, "I'll end up dosing and getting some sleep anyways. All the doors and windows are locked, Tom checked on them before. We should be safe. Plus we have Arthur."

"Alright, I'll wake you when it's your shift for the girls."

"Thanks Naomi I appreciate it."

"What are sisters for, Mara?" Naomi gave Mara a hug as she went upstairs to get some rest beside the babies.

Mara sat and stared out the window deep in thought. This day was just too fucked up. One second life was normal, the next total chaos.

"Here Mara I found this in the freezer. It's still frozen too." Tom said handing Mara a pint of Ben and Jerry's. He placed his on the growing bump on his forehead.

"Thanks Tom I appreciate the thought. How's your head?"

He sat down beside her and placed his arm around her shoulders, "A little better, you sure have a strong arm. You should've been a softball player."

Mara sighed and turned her eyes to the outside again.

"What do you think is going to happen to all of us? Are we going to be able to get back to normal?" Mara asked breaking the silence.

"I really don't know. Honestly Mara, I don't think Sara is alive anywhere. She used her cell phone constantly and I just had a weird feeling about it."

"Tom, don't be so negative, there is still hope."

"No Mara, there isn't. I honestly have a strong gut feeling about that. She's a seeker and I'm just going to have to get used to the fact." A tear rolled down Tom's cheek.

Mara wrapped her arms around Tom and said, "All hope is never lost. I will never give up hope in anything that is good and just."

Tom let go of all his emotions and sobbed into Mara's shoulder. Mara sat there and just let him get all of his frustrations from the day out. When he was done he looked up at her.

"Sorry about that." He said, "It's been hell all day."

"Ya think? Never apologize for your true feelings, Tom."

He sighed then looked into her eyes. Years of hurt had built up inside of them. She was a mystery, never opening up to anyone always the strong one. Tom could almost feel the pain himself.

"Mara, who are you?" He asked.

"What do you mean Tom?" She looked back at him with a questioning look.

"I've known you for years now and I feel I don't know who you really are."

Mara sighed turned her face from him, "Nobody will ever know I don't think. I don't like to get close to people because they end up screwing you over."

"Like Leo?"

"Yes, like Leo."

Leo was Mara's ex husband. They got married when Mara was young, only to have the marriage broken just a year later. He had a wandering eye and other wandering parts. Mara was heartbroken to find this out. He not only was the love of her life but was also the father of her only child. Mara had many hurts in her life and that was number two on the top three list.

"Not all people are like that you know. Some of us are good and trustworthy. Some of people," he paused looking for the right words and finally said, "love you."

Mara reached over for her cigarettes and lit one. "Tom, love is such an overused term that has gotten muddled over the years. I don't think anyone really knows what the true meaning of it is."

"You do. You're a mother; you of all people should know what love is."

Mara nodded and took a puff of her cigarette and replied "It's easy to love something that is a part of you, but loving something that isn't part of you is hard when life isn't so easy."

"I understand." Tom said and then switched the subject, "Is the ice cream good? I don't see how you can eat and smoke at the same time."

Mara put out her cigarette and set the ice cream to the side and smiled obviously relieved at the turn of the conversation and simply stated "Practice makes perfect."

Tom wrapped his arms around her and she allowed herself to be taken in. She was like a sister to him and he loved her like he never thought he could love anyone else besides his own family.

_Does she feel the same way towards me?_ He wondered as he stroked her hair.

He could feel her relax and finally she was asleep; he rested his head on hers and sleep came to him swiftly.

Arthur stood watch right beside them in a crouching position. He looked from the street, to upstairs, to Mara and Tom. His ears never missed a sound.

_I love my master and my puppy. I am going to protect them no matter what. Master is so happy with this man. He's also good to my puppy. My puppy loves him too. She's very happy when he's around. I hope he stays around for a while. I like it when he gives me treats and scratches behind my ears. _He thought resting his chin on his paws. Sleep eventually came to Arthur also.


	6. Chapter 6: Dreams and Realizations

**Note to readers:**

**Yes, I know it's been a while. Sorry! A lot of things happened in the last year! I'm dedicating the rest of my story to my daughter and my unborn child, without them I would have no purpose in life. I promise next update won't be as long. Talk about major writer's block! ENJOY!**

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Mara woke up with a start and looked around. The dream had been so vivid, so real. Tom lay beside her, his arm haphazardly draped over her. Gently removing his arm, as not to wake him, Mara stood up and looked outside. The street was still quiet, there were no Seekers milling about, the clock said 5:00. Arthur stood up slowly; the sleep had done him very little good on his joints.

"Hey big guy, how are you doing?" Mara asked petting Arthur's massive head gently.

He gazed up at Mara as if to read her thoughts, he looked troubled.

"Don't worry big guy, it's all going to be ok." Mara told the dog and went in the other room.

She sat down, lit a cigarette, and tried to work through her racing thoughts. Halfway through the cigarette Tom walked into the room yawning and stretching.

"Why are you up? You should be sleeping; you're going to kill yourself if you keep this up." Tom said sitting next to Mara.

"We all die someday." Mara replied a bit on the sarcastic side.

"I suppose so. You just don't want to hurry anything up." Tom replied, rolling his eyes at Mara's sarcastic statement. He had grown accustomed to her sarcastic nature from all the years he had known her.

.

"When did you get that one?" He asked pointing to the tattoo on her arm.

"It was about a couple months ago. I thought I would splurge one time and get another one." Mara replied taking another puff of her cigarette. The tattoo was a tiger surrounded by traditional Japanese art. It was hand drawn and beautiful artwork; it went from the top of her shoulder to the middle of her bicep on both sides, "My mom actually yelled at me for this one. She always disapproved of my tattoos, it just this one she actually yelled at me for."

"Wow, I've never heard your mom yell. What'd she say?"

"Oh, just something about taking away from my beauty and defacing my body." Mara laughed, "I guess it really doesn't matter now."

"No, and knowing you it never really did. That's one thing I always liked about you, Mara." Tom replied, "You never gave a crap about what anyone thought and you always stood up for what was right and not popular."

"Tom?" Mara asked quietly after a slight break in the conversation.

"Yes, Mara?" He was suddenly aware of how tiny and fragile she looked.

"Promise me that you'll watch out for Lael if I'm ever gone." Mara asked.

"You're not going to go anywhere, Mara. You _are_ going to be right here with me. When this is all said and done, I'm going to make sure BOTH of you are well taken care of." Tom replied his bright blue eyes flashing angrily.

"Promise me, please." Mara said standing up and wrapping her arms tightly around Tom's shoulders as if she were afraid to lose him to an unknown force.

"I will on the premises that you don't try to go too soon. Be careful, if not for your sake, for Lael's." Tom replied placing his hand on her arm.

"I will. I don't plan on going out without a fight." Mara said and flexed her muscular arm.

"Mara, were your dreams out of the ordinary last night?" Tom blurted out.

"My dreams are always weird, but considering the circumstances, I'd say there were definitely out of the ordinary." Mara replied sitting back next to Tom, "How about yours?'

Tom sighed. "Strange and very realistic, it wasn't like a dream at all."

Mara lit a cigarette," Tell me about them you look a little worried."

Tom thought for a second and slowly said, "Well Sara was there, and well, she's dead."

Mara took notice to the tears in Tom's eyes. She reached out, grabbed his hand, and gently squeezed it for reassurance.

Tom's look became distant as he recalled the dream. "It was a warning as well as a prophecy. The numbers of seekers are growing fast, and they only want one thing: to have dominion of this planet. You either become like one or you die, those are your choices." He hesitated for a second then slowly went on, "I guess it's up to us to stop them. The pulse was a governmental experiment gone haywire. Either a weapon or just trying to reach limits that were not meant to be reached. Either way, the experiment was compromised and was sent out worldwide. But we are the ones to free the human race."

"Uh, OK, why us?" Mara asked.

"I really don't know, it's so strange. I wonder if anyone else has had this dream or if it's just the select few." Tom gazed into Mara's troubled eyes.

"Could be, it was about the same dream except a few details were off." Mara replied hesitating for a second before saying, "I don't know what it is about me but I've always felt like there was more of a purpose for me than something mundane."

"It doesn't sound crazy at all, Mara; I've gotten the same feelings all my life also." Tom said his gaze dropping from hers. .

"So what do we do now?" Mara asked.

"I have no clue. First, we need to get everyone else to a safe location. Then we gather up a team and go." Tom replied standing up and walking to the couch.

"That's the ranger coming out in you." Mara said following him into the other room and lying on the couch suddenly very sleepy.

"Maybe so, but it's a good plan." Tom said studying face for any reaction, there was none.

"Sounds good to me…"Mara said and drifted off to sleep.

The two slept rather soundly until Lael woke them up jumping in their laps squealing her very loud pitched squeal.

"Morning, my little angel!" Mara exclaimed hugging her daughter.

"Mama, I wan some eat eat." Lael said not wasting any time.

"Ok, baby, you go play for a minute with Becca and I will get you some eat eat." Mara replied sitting up.

Lael scampered off but not before giving Tom a big hug and slobbery one-year old kiss.

"Guess I'd better get her something to eat before she tears apart the house." Mara said slowly getting up off the couch. Her joints were stiff and felt like they were on fire.

"Hold on, Mara." Tom said grabbing Mara's arm and drawing her close.

"What?" Mara asked looking up into his eyes.

"We're going to make it, don't worry. We're fighters!" He said giving her a hug and a peck on the cheek.

Naomi stood in the doorway and watched the slight exchange of affection between the Mara and Tom. Naomi was the jealous type and no matter how little the amount of affection was she would get very angry.

"Thanks Tom," Mara said and headed for the kitchen.

The trio spent the rest of the morning preparing for their impending adventure to their mom's house. Naomi was sullen and withdrawn through the whole time and barely said more than one word. They all decided that that they would take the van that was in the garage and head out as soon as possible. After going through the house they were comfortably armed, much to Mara's delight there was a crossbow, a hobby of hers that not many people knew about.

"Ready everyone?" Mara asked sitting in the driver's seat.

"Ready." The other two echoed back.

Mara threw the van in reverse and crashed through the flimsy garage door. That particular noise drew all the Seeker's attention for what seemed like miles. Mara managed to swerve around the hoard of seekers drunkenly heading towards the van. She managed to hit a few; they made an odd crunching noise as the van ran over them.

"This is bad." Mara said.

"And why didn't we wait until dark?" Naomi asked in a condescending tone.

"Because, I had a gut feeling and I don't ignore gut feelings." Mara replied not taking her eyes off the road.

"Great just because you had a feeling, you risk all the lives of everyone in this car and even mom's life. That's just fucked up Mara." Naomi said and crossed her arms.

Mara's right eye began to twitch, and she gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white.

"Naomi, not now." Tom snapped knowing fully what it meant when Mara's eye began to twitch.

"You would stick up for her." Naomi muttered.

Tom let the comment go and turned his attention to the road, which was literally littered with cars. Mara was doing a nice job of avoiding the abandoned cars. Seekers roamed all about acting stupidly and drunkenly.

"What are they doing?" Tom asked mainly to himself.

"I honestly don't know. It's like they've reverted to prehistoric humans." Naomi replied.

"Crazy." Tom muttered shaking his head.

They were nearing their mom's neighborhood when a mass of seekers started out after them.

"Take the wheel Tom." Mara commanded and Tom took the wheel without asking any questions.

Mara drew her gun, hung herself halfway out the window, and began shooting the seekers that were heading their way.

"Mara, what are you doing?" Naomi cried out.

Mara shot about 10 seekers before resuming her position at the wheel.

"If I didn't just do that, we'd be overrun by seekers and perhaps not make it out." Mara explained with a slightly disturbing grin.

"Is this a game to you?" Naomi exclaimed clearly upset, "Those are living breathing people! You're a murderer!"

"No, they are not living people, at least to our standards." Mara swerved the car to the left barely missing a stalled car.

"You don't have to be so happy about shooting them though!"

"Might as well have fun while I can," Mara replied, flashing her disturbing smile again.

Off to the right there were seekers in Police uniforms fighting over a Krispy Kreme box.

"Now if that isn't a stereo type." Tom said laughing.

Mara joined him in the laughter. Naomi did not say anything and just stared out the window.

There were no seekers in front of their mom's house luckily. Mara stopped the car in front of the garage and jammed it in park.

"Tom, I'm going to need you to watch my back. I am going inside to open the garage door. Get in the driver's seat and when I open the door go in as fast as you can. I'm guessing if they see a normie than they're going to go after them. Wish me luck." Mara said and stepped out of the car before any of them could argue.

None of the seekers noticed Mara as she stealthy ran to the door and unlocked it.

"Mom, are you in here?" She called out.

"I'm here!" A voice from the bedroom called back.

"Tom, Naomi, and the girls are outside. I have to let up the garage door so that they can get in safe. I'll be in there in just a second." Mara yelled back as she stepped into the garage.

Mara let the garage door up. That drew the seeker's attention, and at the sight of fresh live meat they started advancing rapidly.

"GO TOM!" Mara screamed.

Tom screeched the tires and flew into the garage. Mara was shutting the door when the first seeker reached her. She recognized it as her mother's rude next-door neighbor. He was constantly hooking his weed eater's cord up to their plug and stealing various items from their yard.

"Rast! Enog Meta!" The seeker screamed and knocked Mara on the ground gouging her neck with his fingernails. Mara saw stars for a moment and when her vision cleared, she saw the seeker in her face with its teeth bared. Tom in an instant drew his gun and emptied the clip into the seeker. The last shot went though its forehead. He threw the dead seeker out and slammed the garage door shut.

"Naomi! Get the girls inside now!" Tom yelled behind his shoulder, he could hear the babies start to cry.

"What about Mara is she OK?" Naomi screamed near hysterics.

"She'll be fine! Just get the girls inside." Tom replied over his shoulder. Naomi rushed the girls in; Tom could hear their mom saying something but couldn't make it out. Mara's breathing was shallow; he could barely see her chest rise. Blood poured from the wounds on her neck and her pulse was weak and sporadic.

Tom grabbed some shop towels and pressed them to Mara's gaping neck wounds. Mara was starting to lose consciousness.

"Mara listen to me." Tom said, "You're hurt pretty bad and the bleeding will not stop. Stay with me baby girl."

Mara weakly grabbed Tom's hand and mumbled something incoherently. She then fell into unconsciousness.

"Shit!" Tom exclaimed, "Come on Mara stay with me."

Her grip relaxed on his hand as her heart stopped pumping. Throwing the bloody towels to the side, Tom began trying to start her heart back up again.

At the sound of Tom's distressed voice, Mara's mom came running into the garage. Upon seeing the large amount of blood on the floor and Tom performing CPR, she let out a scream.

"Ruth, did Gary have any kind of medical kit around here? Maybe Mara stocked up some stuff for emergencies?" Tom asked out of breath.

"I actually think there's one in the linen closet." Ruth replied her eyes wide with horror. "Mara stocked it with nurse's supplies."

"I need you to go get it now." Tom commanded, "I only have a few minutes and she's gone forever."

Ruth ran in and brought a bag back. Tom searched frantically for minute then found what he was looking.

"Good girl," He murmured plunging a syringe into her near transparent veins, "Always prepared for anything."

"Come on Mara!" Tom screamed as he pounded on her chest in a feeble last attempt to bring Mara back to life.

"Tom," he mom said softly, "that's enough, she's not coming back."

Tom wiped his hand across his forehead and replied, "There's got to be something else."

Placing a hand on his shoulder Ruth said, "I'm afraid not Tom."

Tom threw himself across Mara's chest sobbing. Ruth let Tom be alone for a while; she had to tell Naomi the news. Ruth felt a sorrow like no other person has ever felt before. Tears also streamed down her face.

_Why did this happen to my daughter?_ Ruth thought sadly, _what will happen to her little Lael?_

"I want you back so bad." Tom sobbed, "I need you!"

"Tom..." Mara barely whispered, "I'm here!"

Tom gasped.


End file.
